The workshop built on the work by the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development and ECA’s ICT Measurement project (Scan-ICT), and aimed to advance the availability of comparable data on ICT in the entire African region. The event allowed representatives of NSOs, as well as representatives of ministries and regulatory agencies who are producers and/or users of ICT statistics, to discuss the need for comparable data on Information Society developments, and share best practices in ICT measurement at the regional level.

To achieve its aim, the workshop:

• Presented and discussed  the list of core ICT indicators that was agreed upon at the 2005 global meeting organized by the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development and presented during the WSIS Tunis, along with definitions, and data collection issues;
• Discussed a preliminary list of Core indicators for e-Government;
• Addressed challenges related to Information Society measurements in the African region, present possible solutions to overcome these challenges and identify technical assistance needs in this area;
• Increased awareness both at the political and technical level for the need to measure information society developments and for linking the national policy agenda with the e-measurement agenda, requiring effective cooperation between policymakers and national statistical systems.

The meeting also presented the results achieved and challenges encountered in the implementation of the second phase of ECA’s ICT measurement project in five countries: Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Mauritius, and Rwanda. In addition, the preliminary results of the AISI Academia Research Network (ARN) research team currently working on Information Society indicators in Africa were reviewed.

The outcome of the meeting provided practical suggestions on policies and programmes to develop and apply mechanisms for monitoring and measuring information society developments in African countries, and learn from experiences of the Scan-ICT process. This will help countries in the region produce comparable ICT statistics and indicators for effective ICT policy making, through networks and statistical tools.

For more information, and presentations, please click here.